Torroella de Montgrí proclaims that its festival continues to be a “place of refuge from the fury of the world” since the pandemic. And the mayor of the town, Jordi Colomí, who remembers that troubadours and musicians passed through those streets and noble houses who were later teachers of the Escolania de Montserrat, or that the oldest cobla in Catalonia emerged from those corners, assures that the This summer is an edition that represents “an important leap.”
This is how the 44th edition of the benchmark Empordà musical event was presented yesterday: 18 concerts from August 2 to 22, with a predominance of baroque and choral formations, such as O Vos Omnes, which will premiere the Missa Custoditus aba ura mundi, the commission of the festival to Ramon Humet with which he closes the edition.
William Christie returns with Les Arts Florissants and Le Jardin des Voix in Purcell’s semi-opera The Fairy Queen. And Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan debuts, which will feature, among other voices, the soprano Carolyn Sampson in a monograph of religious cantatas by the Leipzig singer. Another debut is that of the Belgian ensemble Graindelavoix, one of the most interesting vocal ensembles dedicated to polyphony, with works based on the laments of King David for his son Absalom and his friend Jonathan. To all this we must add the production by Dani Espasa and Vespres d’Arnadí of Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Händel’s first oratorio, written at the age of 22, for which the Catalan director is surrounded by Sunhae Im and Núria Rial , Xavier Sabata and Juan Sancho.
The inaugural evening will be the return of the OBC that had not set foot on that stage for a whopping three decades. In fact, he will make his debut in Espai Ter with Alfons Reverté on the baton and rescuing works of Catalan heritage. You will hear from Ramon Carnicer to Beethoven, passing through Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola with the soloists Maria Florea and Isabel Villanueva. And the Simfònica del Vallès joins Joaquín Achúcarro, the most loyal to the festival, in works by “el tío Eduardo”, this is Toldrà, cousin of the Basque pianist’s grandmother.
Amandine Beyer will not be missing with Gli Incogniti, this time with symphonies by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, “Bach’s second son, eclipsed in life by Händel and, after his death, by Haydn and Mozart, but a decisive hinge between the baroque and classicism”, explains the artistic director of the festival, Montse Faura.
The harpsichordist Eva del Campo will take a journey through three centuries of her instrument, while Kristian Bezuidenhout will take the fortepiano with the Freiburger Barockorchester, which will offer an exciting repertoire about the friendship between Mozart and the youngest of Bach’s children, Johann Christian. Unique will be, in turn, discovering with the help of Le Consort and the violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte the first version of Summer in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
The Gerhard Quartet concludes its full Shostakovich performance and there are “singular” proposals: Claudio Constantini will return the bandoneon to its German origin playing Bach, and in the square there will be a concert by the BartolomeyBittmann duo. And a novelty: the In-èdit Empordà is born with four documentaries about Marin Alsop, Gerhard, Stockhausen and the Chopin competition.
The budget comes close to 600,000 euros with 78% of public contributions and the aid of returning an unfair fine from the Hacienda to Juventuts Musicals de Torroella (¡500 members!) who organize the festival.
